Barry is gone! After the explosion in S.T.A.R Labs while attempting to get his speed back, Barry is now trapped inside the speed force–the very energy that gives The Flash his powers! While Barry attempts to get home, Team Flash has problems of their own when Girder returns and plans to once again take Iris! Can The Flash return back home before it’s too late? And even if he does–will he have his powers back?
The Positives
“The Runaway Dinosaur” has to be one of my most favorite episodes so far from The Flash. Directed by Kevin Smith, I have to admit–he really did the damn thing here! Trapped within the speed force we find Barry in a familiar setting– he’s home. It seems that the speed force is a completely thinking and feeling entity–and that it “chose” Barry to receive it’s powers. Showing up as key friends throughout Barry’s life the speed force tells Barry something that Barry learns to be true later on in the episode–he never fully accepted the loss of his mother. With all the victories that he has, and with all the lives that he’s saved, its something that he’s never come to terms with–and Kevin Smith does a great job of showing it here. Henry makes another return in this episode and announces that he’s staying in Central City! If you’ve been following my reviews you’d know I’m a big fan of Henry Allen and I’m happy that he has a bigger role in Barry’s life again. I look forward to seeing exactly how he and Dr. Wells with both coexist in Barry’s life, and I have a feeling we’ll probably see the two doctors have a clash of ideals eventually as well.
The Negatives
The only negative I have about the show was the return of Girder. Although it was well explained, the zombie routine felt a little too forced. I mean Girder has been dead for a long time–why was his body still in S.T.A.R Labs in the first place? Why didn’t Team Flash get rid of all the experiments the evil Dr. Wells was doing in the first place? Also I must admit that I hated that when Girder returned all he wanted was to pursue Iris. I was confused when she’s seen running down her home’s street with a metahuman zombie chasing her–none of her neighbors noticed this? Really? I have to admit that was thinking hard about that one–but I’ll give Kevin a pass because the awesome ending makes up for it.
The Verdict
“The Runaway Dinosaur” is a trip inside the mind of Barry Allen. In this episode we learned that he’s still not over the loss of his mother, and it’s something that he’s going to have to accept. Kevin Smith does a great job of taking us inside the mind and core beliefs of Barry and it’s amazing how he does this in under an hour! You can tell how dedicated Kevin Smith was in making sure you feel the pain of what it’s like to be The Flash–to have all of this awesome power surging through your body, and you still can’t save the one you love. Awesome job Kevin!!!
